India Government on Climate change.

After being adamant on not caving in to the demands of the developed nations especially when it came to the prickly issue of climate change, the Indian government has agreed to soften its stance. The government has said that it was willing to extend more concessions if the rest of the world could arrive at a fair and equitable climate change agreement in Copenhagen. As reported in a leading business daily, the government has pledged a 20-25% cut in emissions intensity per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020. This is what the environment minister Jairam Ramesh had to say, "India has not caused global warming, but the country will try and make sure that it is part of the solution." Earlier, the stance adopted by India was that cuts should be distributed on the basis of per capita carbon emissions. According to this measure, India is well below the global average and the two lead polluters, China and the US. The fact that the environment minister has chosen to adopt a different approach and also that he was well supported in Parliament means that the country is ready to consider climate change as an important issue and accept moral responsibility. The 5 Minute Wrap-Up, December 4, 09